


Slavery

by Nerdy_JD



Series: Lava one-shots [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: F/M, Graphic Description, M/M, Multi, Punishment, Slavery, Suggestive Themes, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5928937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdy_JD/pseuds/Nerdy_JD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trading of slaves is not uncommon, it's seen as a sport for some. When Lou buys Cole his first slave, the boy is sickened by the thought of owning someone, only when their relationship grows does he realise that maybe it wasn't so bad that his father had bought Kai.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dad, I want him

**Author's Note:**

> *sigh* and here I thought this would just be a one-shot but now look at it. Hope you enjoy, I promise it won't be too long. I'll be doing this entire story in first-person so wish me luck
> 
> This rating is purely Teen, I would never write something that should be rated higher than me own age.

“Okay people, we have this pretty, young lady going up next. Do I hear 500?” Dareth bellowed over the hushed talking of the large crowd that had gathered around his stage. The man dressed in brown had his hair styled up in its extravagant why, this clothing had shimmering gold accents that drew your attention to the large gold medallion that he wore around his neck. He had his signature selling smile up that made the women swoon over him and his voice travelled across the crowd loudly as he auctioned of the men, women and children that came up on stage. They were always dressed in rags from their villages, always cried or wore a stoic expression and were always chained up. It made me sick to watch these battered and bruised people walk up here and have their life sold to some stranger who would only use them in some evil or disgusting way. That’s something I never understood about my father, we had a perfectly happy life. We lived in a nice house in a friendly community, mom was happy and so was I, but then his dancing got in the way. I still remember her shouting, her fighting, her clothes being thrown out by dad. It was a sad day indeed. The girl on stage was dressed in an old orange cloak and hung till her knees, orange is my favourite colour, maybe dad will get her for me. He only brought me here since he thought I was old and responsible enough to have a slave of my own, he has had many in the past and each time she gets prettier. This year we’ll be buying two, one for me and one for dad. Her cloaks hood covered most of her head but strands of striking red still peeked out from under the covers. Her small pale face looked meek under the gloomy shadow and her cheeks looked hollowed out which suggested that she hadn’t been fed in quite some time. She would be useless around the house if used for cleaning. _If she was used for cleaning._ “This beautiful lady’s name is Skylor Chen and she has been sold for a total of only two times. She specialises in playing hard to get and exotic ‘training’ positions if you know what I mean gentlemen.” Dareth continued to sprout his nonsense out to the crowd as I did my very best to block his annoying voice out.

  
So, she was a toy. Dad would definitely consider her but she didn’t look very appealing in the state she was in, she was probably worth less than Dareth made her sound. Just as I thought, she didn’t sell for more than 300 and was bought by an old wrinkly guy. I cringed, I felt sorry for her, for the rest of her days as his slave she would have to pleasure that ancient mess. My dad looked over to my side, his dark green staring into my own. “Son, have you seen one you liked yet. Maybe that young one we saw yesterday?” he said with a small smile on his face, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Dad! She’s only twelve, you can’t!” That was just crazy, she was barely in her teens and already being given off to a life of slavery.

  
A bell rang out signalling a new selection. This time two people walked out on the narrow catwalk from the stage. “These, ladies and gentlemen are the Smith siblings. Been together since they were orphans. They are nameless and able to do any work. These two have a special ‘two for one’ price going so can I get 400 anyone?” Dareth introduced them to the people and the crowd suddenly burst to life. “450!” One man shouted. “550!” two other women hollered. I looked the brother and sister over, they were as scruffy as the rest. The girl had an extremely short bob with dark red lips, her face was battered and bruised along one side and her clothes were torn. But she didn’t come close to looking as bad as her brother, his entire right side of his face was covered in blood and a visible cut over the eye could be seen. His sleeves were ripped to shreds and his top was tattered beyond recognition because of the whip wounds that were exposed on his back. He wore a brown pants that was way too small for him and his sister wore a short red dress with pumps. Her eyes were cast down but his were looking over the people in a threatening manner. I couldn’t help but stare as his gaze drifted to me and stilled. His eyes were a mesmerising amber that looked like molten gold swirling around. His sneer only increased as I tilted my head slightly to the side in confusion and curiosity.

  
“Dad.” I turned to my father and he looked to me with a knowing smile. “Yes son.”

  
“I want them.” I said as I turned back to the two chained teens standing on stage. “Okay, I’ll get them for you.” My father draped his arm over my shoulders and lifted his free hand up. “Dareth my good man. I’d like those two.” He called over the crowd of shouting maniacs. At the sound of his voice the people quieted down and Dareth turned his attention over to us with a wide smile. “Ahh Mr Brookstone. Long-time no see, have your standards increased that you need two able bodies?” my father gave a hearty laugh at his comment. “No, my son actually wants them.” He answered gesturing to me. I felt the peoples gaze shift towards me, it was intimidating. Especially from the boy on stage that was staring daggers into the side of my head. “Okay, what’s your bet then?” My father thought for a moment before speaking up again. “1 000.” He answered which caused some people around us to gasp and others to mutter hatefully. We weren’t the richest family in Ninjago but we were well off thanks to dad’s successful career and his business. Plus we only buy a slave once a year so we had quite a lot to spend when the time came. Dareth’s smile grew larger when the amount was announced, while other faces seem to fall to the ground. Two of those faces were that of the newly sold slaves. The golden eyed boy turned to hold his now sobbing sister as they were dragged off stage by people dressed in black and a depressingly dark purple. I felt so sorry for them, he looked into my eyes as they left. His face begging to be told that this was all a nightmare and it would end but the apologetic look I gave him told the hopeless depths that his wishes would not be answered.

  
“Wonderful news! You can collect them on your way out, I’m sure Cole’s excited to be getting his first slave.” Dareth glowed with happiness as he stepped down to shake my father’s hand. I tried it smile, I really did, but remembering that shattered face, the realisation that his life was being sold off… That expression would forever be scratched into my memory.

  
The auction went pretty quickly and soon my dad and I were filing out with the rest of the people. Some walked straight out the door back to their homes empty handed while others, such as us, broke off to collect our ‘merchandise’. They lined the people up according to how much they were bought for, our boy and girl were farther to the back. She was still crying as we walked up to them and the golden eyed boy continued to hold his younger sister as to shield her away from the cruel harm of the world. “Are you sure you want these two son?” My father’s voice interrupted my thoughts, I turned toward him and then looked back at the brunette. Up close I could see that he was slightly taller than me and looked to be a little older as well. Once again the pang of sorrow flowed through me as I would become the superior to someone older, and probably more experienced than me. His gaze shifted from his sister to me as he too waited for my answer that would finalise his new life as my property. I was starting to have second thoughts now, why am I even buying him. I have no need for a slave and I hate the entire idea of it anyway and here I am encouraging it. But if I hadn’t bought them someone else would have, someone not as kind as me. “Yeah dad, I’m sure.” I said softly and continued to look into the depths of his endless shining eyes, searching for something, but not sure what. “Okay then,” he pointed to the boy. “He will be your responsibility and I will take her.” He then moved his finger over to the smaller girl. Of cause he would take her. I nodded at his assignment and turned to his back as he walked over to pay and fetch the keys to their chains. I curiously examined the boy, the cut above his eye looked a lot clearer up close, the blood had dried up mostly and his clothes– I can’t even call them that. They’re strips of cloth hanging onto his body for dear life, and his sister didn’t look much better. Her dress barley covered most of her body and the upper sleeves were hanging off her shoulders, exposing her tanned skin. Her pumps were old and worn out while her brother was barefoot. I made a mental note to ask dad to stop by the shop before we get home. “Do you have a name?” I asked softly as I tried to make myself look as unintimidating as possible. I took a step toward them, but the boy shied away and pulled his sister with him. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” I really wasn’t, but it didn’t seem to convince the scared teens in front of me, it only seemed to fuel the fire. The girl turned her head away from her brother’s chest and got a good look at me. She was so different from him, where the brunette had untamed milk chocolate brown hair, she had a dark shade to hers, similar to mine I guess. And instead of the eye-catching gold I was expecting, she had a chocolate brown that matched her brother’s hair. She was like the duller version of him. Her eyes roamed over my body, though I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or curiosity.

  
My father came back, the small steel keys dangling from his fingers as he approached our small group. They lifted each of their arms towards him, however they kept their gaze low as if they would be punished for staring their new master in the eye. “Hey dad, do you think we could stop by the shop to get them some new clothes?” my father released a faint chuckle at my question. “It’ll have to wait until tomorrow son, it’s getting late and we need to get them home before curfew.” I nodded at his question, no matter, I would just find some of my old clothes. The drive home was quiet, the siblings sat at the back of the car, the girl looked like she was asleep on her brother’s shoulder. I snuck glances at them through the mirror from time to time and on every occasion I ended up looking straight that those golden depths. As frustrating as it was, I didn’t really mind. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at them.

  
We pulled up in the drive way to my house, its dark brown walls were faintly visible in the dark of nightfall. I looked up to my window on the second floor, it was open with the grey curtains flowing freely outside. At the sound of the car’s engine my dog came running out, he is a black and brown pit bull and his name is Rocky. I laughed as he jumped on me in joy, his tongue hanging out on the side as his drool dripped down on my pants. My dad opened the door for our slaves and motioned for them to step outside. The girl didn’t want to join her brother outside, I could see the fear present on her face as she eyed my dog. Once Rocky caught eye of the new company he dashed towards them which made the girl squeal and scoot further into the car. My dad got very annoyed at this and opened the other side to drag her out on the sidewalk. Her brother watched my father intently as his sister was roughly taken by the arm and pull out of the black BMW, she them proceeded to fall on her back and shield her face away from any beatings. Seeing her brothers rising anger I gently took his arm and tugged him to the door where I continued to guide him inside to my room.

  
“It’s okay, Rocky’s just a big loveable bear, he won’t hurt your sister.” I reassured him as we climbed the wooden stairs. When we reached the top I heard my father, Rocky as well as the girl come inside and the sound of the front door closing and locking. My room door was painted black with a thin neon orange border around the frame. And in the middle in a brown and an earthy theme was my name; Cole.

  
When we entered I could see his eyes slightly widen at my room. It wasn’t small, I’ve never been a fan of small spaces. To the right I had my gaming consoles set up, next to that, my laptop and a few beanbags. Then on the left was the door to my bathroom and toilet as well as a small bookshelf and a small couch that was pushed up against the window sill. I had a cream carpet and dark navy blue walls. Squat in the middle against the wall was my king size bed, draped in black and white covers and a little messed up I noticed. To the left of my bed was a dark wooden dresser. All my furniture was dark as to match the colour scheme of my room. I walked over to the window and closed it, leaving the boy to stand in the doorway.  
“Come inside, I’ll see if I can find anything for you to wear.” I waved my hand to tell him to join me. I rummaged through my draws until if found something that would hopefully fit him until we could get him some proper clothes. In the very back my hand pulled out an old back and orange t-shirt of mine that was too big for me to wear but I liked it too much so I didn’t throw it away. After a little while of more of searching I found a pair of navy blue shorts as some black socks. Sadly I didn’t have any shoes that were his size. “You can put these on for now until we get you some proper clothes.” I held out the items for him. He hesitantly took it and looked at me before pulling his ripped up shirt off.

  
The muscles were unmistakably there and the curves that accompanied them make my heart skip a beat and my lungs to struggle for air. I released a very unmanly squeak and a very dark blush followed. “No!” I redirected my eyes from his very exposed chest and moved my hands in an attempt to block off anything opening to stare. His eyes went as wide as plates and he took a step away from me. “I’m sorry. Just, don’t… don’t get dress now, you have to shower first.” I explained in a rush and herded him into the bathroom where I sat him on the toilet and retrieved the first-aid bag. “Okay, let’s first get your face cleaned up.” He sat still as he was taught to and had a frown across his face. I pulled out a disposable cloth as lathered it in disinfectant, then I kneelt down in front of him and lifted it up to the cut on his face. I put one hand on the side of his cheek to steady his head and slowly lowered the damp cloth on the open wound. I saw him hold in his flinch at the burning sensation and tense up to avoid squirming. “Yeah, hurts like hell but it helps.” I continued to dab the cut gently and clean away most of the blood.

  
It occurred to me that he had still to speak and right now I needed to distract myself from my burning face and his intense stare. “S-so, uh, do you have a name?” Smooth Cole, real smooth. I mentally slapped myself for asking such a stupid question, of cause he has a name. When he didn’t answer I stopped my cleaning and looked up at him. “What’s wrong?” Another dumb question Cole! He was just sold off as a slave and you’re asking what’s wrong. Can you get anymore obtuse? “It’s your choice on what name to give us.” He spoke softly, I could hear the fear laced in his voice, the pain and regret. I shook my head at his answer. “What did your parents call you?” I asked again, maybe phasing it in a different way would get me an answer. “My. Parents?” he said slowly and I nodded my head. “They called me–Kai. My sister’s name is Nya.” I smiled, satisfied with the answer he gave me. “Kai’s a cool name, it means fire.” I put a small patch over the cut and turned towards the bathtub. “I think it’s better if, uh, I wash you. You-you, uh, won’t be able to reach the c-cuts on your back.” He didn’t look bothered or disturbed at all by my flustered face. He only nodded and stood next to me. I started running the water and within a few minutes the tub was filled with bubbles and warm water. I looked up at Kai before turning around, “You can leave your clothes on the floor over there.” I tried to preoccupy my mind with anything other than the boy undressing behind me, but I didn’t have to avert my eyes. Kai was mine to do with as I pleased, I didn’t have to give this slave respect. But I had a kind heart and that thought quickly got thrown out the window.

  
When the soft splashing of water was heard I turned around and saw most of Kai’s body submerged in bubbles. The slave watched me, waiting for what he was supposed to do next. I reached into the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a new washcloth and some of my favourite apple shampoo and soap. I kneeled down at the side of the bath and began rubbing the soap covered cloth around Kai’s shoulders and chest. I was careful not to scrub the wounds on his back, some of them were still open and needed to be bandaged. When I looked up at Kai’s face, the boy seemed to be lost in thought and stared aimlessly in the flurry of white bubbles around himself. After I was sure I did a good job with the upper body I moved on to the head and squirted a generous amount of sweet smelling shampoo on the wet hair. As I began to gently massage to suds on his head I saw how Kai’s face relaxed and his eyes closed in pleasure. This small gesture did more than a little to make me heat up and attempt to distract myself, but I couldn’t stop from biting my lip to supress anymore embarrassing sounds emitting from my mouth tonight. I covered the cloth in the apple soap once more and held it out to Kai. “You can wash your bottom half, I’m going to get a towel.” I said this as I stood up and walked out of the humid bathroom. I came back a minute later with a bright green towel in hand as well as a smaller one for Kai’s hair, but I came back to the boy looking exactly like I had left him. The cooled off washcloth was still sitting in the palm of his hand and his body stayed in the same slouching position. I sighed as I kneeled by the bath once more.  
“You were supposed to wash yourself Kai.” I tried to explained without sounding irritated and took the cloth from his unmoving hand, “But you said its better if you wash me, master.” The ‘master’ part was added as an afterthought but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t hear anything besides the pounding of my heart in my ears. My face probably looked like a tomato now and I struggled to regain my composure. “Y-you know what? I think your fine f-for now, let’s get you out of there.” I stuttered out, feeling like a complete fool. I held up the towel and when Kai stood I promptly wrapped the fuzzy green thing around his waist, trying my best to avert my gaze from stumbling upon anything else. I then proceeded to ruffle his hair with the other towel, trying to get it as dry as possible. That task was a little harder than I thought it would be, Kai was already taller than myself and with him standing in the tub it made things a lot more challenging. Kai luckily sensed my frustration and bent down a so that I didn’t have to stand on my toes to reach him. I laughed a little at that, “Thanks.”

  
After I had dried most of him off and he had dressed, we sat in my room for a while until dad called me for supper. I decided to get to know my new friend a little better, Kai was sitting on the carpet floor while I laid across my bed with my arms thrown out. “So Kai, tell me a little about yourself.” I casually started. His answer came immediately after, a little hesitantly. “Um, I’m good with working with my hands, master and, uh, I-I can do a lot of the hard work. But Nya’s the smart one, master.” I couldn’t help but pull my face at his answer. “That’s not what I mean.” I said as I hopped off the bed and sat in front of Kai, mimicking his cross-legged position. “I mean tell me about you, as a person, not a slave.” I pointed a finger at his chest to emphasise what I was saying. “Oh, uh okay, m-master.” He said and looked down unsure of what to do next. So I decided to help him out. “I’ll go first, my name’s Cole Brookstone and my favourite colour’s orange.” I said with an encouraging smile. He looked up and digested the information before speaking. “My name’s Kai Smith and, uh, m-my favourite colour is red.” My smile grew, “That’s good, now we’re getting somewhere.” I saw his face relax slightly from the confused expression that was present before. “I like cake, sports and music, what do you like?” He turned his gaze down again as he thought, “I-I don’t know.” He answered slowly. Realisation dawned on me; he was still a slave. “Oh shoot, sorry! I forgot, I’m so sorry.” I apologised quickly. Kai look a bit frightened, “Y-you don’t have to apologise, m-master.” He stuttered out and lifted his hands to stop me from coming any nearer.

  
I know he is a slave. I know he is scared. I _know_ that he was beaten.

  
But I’ve never been feared before. Not by the past slaves and not by my friends. A very painful pressure was placed on my chest, I didn’t want to move, my limbs felt numb. Knowing that someone I have come to care about in such a short span of time didn’t trust me, it hurt more than I thought it should have. I slowly drew my arms back to my own personal bubble and dropped my eyes to the fluffy cream that my right hand rested on. I pursed my lips together, I didn’t feel like doing anything right now. “Did I say something to upset you, master?” I heard Kai’s voice through my own bombarding thoughts, he almost sounded sorry.

  
I shook my head and concentrated on the dark strands that fell over my face, through them I peeped at the innocent looking face staring back at me. His golden eyes had taken on a brighter shade and his face, now that it was blood free, looked a lot softer than it did before. “Cole, dinners ready!” I heard my father call from downstairs. I promptly pushed myself up and walked over to the door, in the corner of my eye I could see Kai scooting in place deciding if he should follow me or stay in the room. “Stay here.” I ordered him, I didn’t necessarily mean for it to come out harsh but my mood was rapidly getting worse. I was finally realising that I now owned an actual human being. I saw Kai sulk back into his little bundle on the floor as he started toying with his hands. I just didn’t want to be around him right now, maybe it’s better if I let him just be a slave that does normal work around the house and not get too attached to him, maybe then it won’t hurt so bad if he needs to get beaten by my dad, and maybe I won’t have to be responsible for him all the time.

  
Or maybe I’m just afraid that he’ll hurt me.


	2. Beatings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai doesn't deserve this, I didn't deserve this. 
> 
> Please let it all be a dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lousy chapter and the utter shortness of it.  
>  Ek het NIE lis vir dié ding gehad nie.   
> On with the chapter!   
> Pleas let me know if I need to up the rating and BTW   
> HAPPY FANDOMAPOCALYPSE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Supper was as normal as it ever was, Kai was up in my room and Nya was standing next to my father, watching him eat. I wasn’t bothered by it, it was normal for me to see women following my dad around the house. But it did make me think whether I should have brought Kai with as well, but I didn’t want to taunt him with food he couldn’t eat. Speaking of food, I wonder when was the last time that these two ate, they didn’t look as skinny as that girl Skylor but that didn’t mean that they weren’t hungry. “Dad, what happens to Kai when I go to school tomorrow.” I spoke up as I played with the spaghetti on my plate. Nya’s head moved up at attention and my dad gave me a confused sideways glance. “Who’s Kai?” he asked he and he looked up. I blushed and stopped playing. “He’s, uh, that’s his name. My slave, his name is Kai.” I stuttered out and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. “Oh, you named him. Well he can always stay in the cellar with this one.” My dad said as he pointed a finger at Nya, I didn’t really want to leave him down there. It sucked, it was freezing and you didn’t get food, a blanket or even a light. It’s like our own personal prison. “And he can’t come with me to school?” I asked. My dad gave another confused look. “Why should he come with you to school?” He retorted, I shook my head. “Never mind, its fine, he can stay in the cellar.” I then said as I tried to brush his question off. I just wanted Kai to sort of have a normal teenager life but obviously that wasn’t going to happen with my dad looking over my shoulder. I would have really liked him to meet some of my friends, I’m sure they’ll like Kai. They have their own slaves, maybe I can ask dad if we can have a boy’s night. I finished off my food, thanked my dad and made my way to my room.

  
When I opened my door Kai was sitting in the same position, in the same spot I had left him. “Why are you still there.” I asked as I stared at him. “You didn’t give me any instructions, master.” He then said, matching my stare. I groaned and walked over to my draw, “Stop calling me that, it’s just Cole.” I was met with silence as Kai thought over the words and then he replied. “Okay.” A simple answer. “I’m going to shower.” I told him as I made my way to the bathroom with my pyjamas in hand as well a towel. A good shower is just what I need to wash the filth of the auction off my body. Going to school tomorrow will be bitter sweet, I’ll get to see my friends again and we can organise a get-together but I’ll be leaving Kai behind here at home. But he’ll be with his sister so it won’t be that bad right? When I walked into the bathroom I saw the red rags of Kai’s old clothes still lying on the floor, I’ll have to remember to throw those away later. I put my clothes down and did a quick brush of my teeth before a turned the water on in the shower. As I waited for it to get to the right temperature I undressed and put my clothes in a corner. Carefully I checked the water and once I felt it was right I stepped under the relaxing waterfall. It felt so good, I hummed as the warm liquid ran down my back. The small room started filling with steam, I could barely see a thing, but who cared—I had my eyes closed anyway.

  
I sighed when a thought kept prodding my mind, I tried pushing it away but how could I? Molten amber stared into my own while we lay facing each other. I knew it was only a daydream but I was so happy, not normal happy, fuzzy warmth kind of happy. I remember smiling, a lot, and laughing. I haven’t seen Kai smile yet, it made my frown when I thought about it. Maybe I’m just overthinking this, he’s just a slave. But he’s also a person and I should treat him like one. I squeezed some shampoo on my head and started massaging it in as I hummed to my own tune. Jay and Lloyd already have their own slaves—okay Cole, stop saying that word. There should be no such thing, call them… workers? Servants? Helpers? Who cares, but they’re not slaves.  
I did one more wash down before exiting the shower and drying myself off. Today hadn’t been as bad as I thought it would be, now I just need to learn to take care of another human. I was putting on my shorts when I heard my dad shout. It sounded like it was from inside my room, I quickly pulled on the thin cloth and rushed to the door. When I opened it I saw Kai struggled while my father was busy dragging him out by his hair.  
“Dad! What are you doing?” I shouted, I was very confused at that point and concerned for Kai. “Taking this thing to get a beating.” Dad roughly answered back as he tugged at Kai’s head, the brunette gave a soft whimper and closed his eyes tightly as he continued to hold onto his hair. “But he didn’t do anything wrong.” I said and I chased after my dad, I tried reaching for his hand gripping Kai’s head. The atmosphere had drastically changed from relaxed to full of tension. I could heard Kai’s rapid breathing as he attempted not to fight back but it was human nature to protect yourself when in harm’s way. “Dad let him go!” I tried but he continued to push me away, I saw Nya standing in the doorway to his room watching her brother get dragged down the stairs. My dad shoved him forward and Kai went tumbling down the stairs in a series of loud ‘thumps’. It was like he was trying to kill the boy, I rushed down and kneeled beside him as I tried to help him stand up only to have my dad grab his collar. I watched as Kai struggled for breath as he pulled at the material suffocating him. “Dad stop! Your killing him!” I shouted breathlessly, my eyes hurt and my tongue felt numb in my mouth. I lifted my gaze to see where my dad was taking him, it fell on an old brown door that led to the cellar. I tried rushing ahead as to block his path off but my dad was a lot faster than I thought. Adrenaline pumped franticly though my veins, my breathing was so uneven that I thought I would pass out. But the thought of keeping Kai from the beatings made me stay focused, he couldn’t get hurt on his first night here. My dad pushed him into the mostly empty room, he was sobbing loudly now, I tried following but my dad gave a strong push to my chest that caused me to stumble back and fall on my behind.  
I immediately stood up and reached for the door before it closed, there was no way that I would let my father beat him for doing nothing. I left him alone in the room, I didn’t tell him that he couldn’t look around if that was what he was doing. My dad’s being unreasonable and short sighted, I had to talk some sense into him. My hand made it just before the door was slammed shut but unfortunately due to terrible aiming, I missed the wood and it collided with my hand, trapping it between the doorframe and the door.

  
I wish I could explain the sensation I felt at that moment, it was excruciating physical pain but only when I head the multiple cracks that spread throughout the bone did my mind catch up. It was burning, like it was being burned with a blowtorch, I lost control of it soon after but the mind numbing pain didn’t go away. I know I screamed, but I couldn’t hear it, nor could I hear the door successfully shutting as I fell to the ground. All I could hear was the blood pumping in my ears and the sound of my bones being crushed as my mind replayed it over and over again. At this point I was crying, I know it because I could taste the salty water in my mouth as I cried out again. My vision was blurry and all I could see was the familiar colour of dark scarlet that gushed out from a large opening across my palm. I couldn’t breathe, my brain refused to act out that very important function, it was too preoccupied with telling my body to shut the hell up and stop complaining about the misery it was in. I don’t remember laying down but once I felt my head make contact with the cold wood floor I knew I was down, I couldn’t even process simple actions anymore, all I could do was stare at the blood soaked hand in front of me. I didn’t want to touch it in fear of hurting it even more, my brain felt like a piñata and my hand was the bat, God, I need to stop thinking about this thing!  
Kai’s pain filled screaming helped knock me out of my self-pity trance, I used my left hand to lift my body off the ground and get on my knees. That took more energy out of me than it should have. Have those dots always been there? I stood up and clutched the aching hand to my chest, successfully ruining my nightclothes and making myself in need of another shower. Stop thinking, stay focused! I walked—more like hobbled over to the door, Kai’s screams could still be heard clearly. I only hoped that my father wasn’t beating him too badly and that I would be able to help him again. I placed my uninjured hand on the cool wood as I used it as support, I pulled my face as I heard my dad shout curses between each painful swing of his weapon. “Dad, open the door.” My voice broke so much in that sentence that I wouldn’t believe it was me if I wasn’t the one moving my lips. And it wasn’t nearly loud enough than I wanted it to be, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Dad! Open the door!” That sounded better, my voice didn’t sound that different but it still hurt to talk. My chest was tight as I held on from crying, I looked down at my hand. It looked so unnatural, it was bent in a weird way from the palm and it was caked it drying blood, not a pretty picture if you ask me. But I still didn’t get an answer from my dad and Kai’s cried had died down, not a good sign. This sent panic flooding through me and my heart rate suddenly skyrocketed, fuelling me with adrenaline once again. I used my good hand to hammer against the door in hopes that my dad would hear.

  
Why is everything so fuzzy, and why am I so tired? I knocked on the door again, this was starting to get frustrating, and I needed to get to Kai! “Open the door you sicko! No wonder mom left you, you’re a freaking idiot that beats children for fun! You’re a womanizer and a useless father!” I don’t think I knew what exactly was coming out of my mouth but it felt right, it even put a smile on my face when the beatings stopped. That surely got his attention. But my smile dropped as he opened the door, and I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the scariest face I had ever laid eyes on.

  
He grabbed my collar and hauled me into the room where I fell face first onto the cold floor. I saw Kai up against the wall, he looked fine as far as I could see except for a few blood stains on his clothes, he was breathing but he gave me this look that told me he couldn’t take it anymore. “Kai.” I breathed out and tried to sit up again only for my dad to place his shoe on my back and push me back down. “So you think I’m a worthless parent hmm?” He sarcastically asked. As I turned my head to answer I saw the reason he was behaving this way, in the corner was a small pile of syringes. He wasn’t himself, he wasn’t sane, this isn’t your father Cole, and he is not Lou Brookstone. “What, cat got your tongue? You were so big mouthed a moment ago, what happened to the son who cared so much for slaves.” Kai continued to stare at me, he didn’t do anything for fear of getting another beating session. The air filled my lungs again as my dad lifted his foot off my back and walked over to another part of the room.

  
My dad walked over to the limp form of Kai at the far end of the room, I saw that his lips where pursed and he had a dark and deathly look on his face. If Kai wasn’t scared, I was scared for us both. He picked up the long metal cane next to my slave, it already had blood dripping from it, some old stains were still on from past beatings, only when I saw this did I realise how bad things had gotten in the past month. First the drinking and now the drugs, how could I let my father fall this far? Kai struggled to move from his spot on the ground and away from my father, this movement brought my attention back to him. I pushed myself up, my right hand was still throbbing but at least it was numb, but my back was sore from being crushed on the ground. “Dad, stop, please.” I wheezed out and got up to my knees. “Oh, so now this mutt is that important. What about his slut of a sister, are you going to try and save her too? Please oh great hero save us all!” His booming voice was accompanied with an equally scary laugh that made my breath hitch. He stopped laughing and turned to Kai and then looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Do you know what happened to your mother, Cole?” he asked me while still continuing to stare down at Kai. “I don’t want to know.” I stated plainly, whatever he wanted to say didn’t matter and I certainly didn’t need to hear the rubbish that decided to come out of his mouth.

  
“She slept with another man! That whore sold her body and then I threw her out!” he laughed again but I ignored it and continued my efforts to limp over to Kai’s side but I was still really far away. “And that article that was in the newspaper later that week was about her.” I froze at his words and looked my father in the eye, begging him to tell me it wasn’t true. That he was just saying things to get in my head and distract me. “You’re lying.” My voice was breaking and once again I had to fight the burning of oncoming tears. For a moment I saw hurt flash across his face but it was soon replaced by a look a seriousness, and then disgust. “No I’m not, your mother was that women, she was the one that was RAPED and the HUNG in the park!” he spat out the words and made me flinch back until I was slowly limping away from him like he was the plague. “No, no, no, you’re lying. It’s not true!” I couldn’t hold it back, why would he do that, they said the women was unrecognisable, they could barely even tell if it was a women or not. “Well she did want to be a little slut.” He finally said with a smile.  
I had backed up so much that I was up against the wall and I slumped down, not caring how much my back screamed against to motion. My father resumed his actions and before I knew it, he had lifted the cane and hit Kai across the head. Blood started pooling under his limp form as his body laid on the cold floor. My father dropped the metal can with a loud clatter and sauntered out of the room and closed the door. The last thing I heard was the soft click of it being locked and then there was silence. All I could hear was my own heart beat but even that was faint.  
Did my father really do that, or is this all a dream?

  
_Please let it all be a dream._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't it just suck if some crazy author just killed off a main character right in the middle of a story -_-


	3. You're awake!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey people of the internet, welcome to the beginning of the end for Slavery (this is not the final chapter) so I hope you enjoy. Just so you know, it takes me about a week to write a chapter, especially as long as this, and still get it kind of in the way I want it. So in those 7 days my mood drastically changes so please excuse me if my writing style differs in parts of the chapter. 
> 
> On with the story...

Breathe in. And breathe out. Breathe in. And breathe out.

Focus on your breathing Cole, focus on that refreshingly stale air that’s drifting around the room, and occupy your mind with thoughts on how you’re going to clean up this room when you get out. Don’t think about the blood stains of the floor, don’t think about them! Don’t look at the red covered cane laying on the floor, taunting you, mocking you, teasing you, don’t think about it.

But I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t help but stare and contemplate on all these things that could be part of my final hours here on this planet. The cold room, the scary surroundings, the body… I didn’t even check if he was alive or not, maybe he’s just unconscious and dad hit him so hard that he passed out or something. I looked down at my hand, the bleeding had stopped a while ago and was now simply stinging whenever in came into contact with anything, including my nightshirt which I was clutching it to. I needed to get to Kai, but I _really_ didn’t feel like moving and not because I was tired but my chest really hurt and whenever I moved then my hand would start paining all over again. But Kai’s wounds needed to be closed and he’d die, if he’s not already dead, if I don’t help him. But what if he _is_ dead, I can’t handle dealing with a dead body right now. _He needs your help Cole, help him!_

I moved my legs and stretched them out in front of me, next I moved my left hand to the ground and pushed my body up. The pain that spread throughout my chest knocked the breath out of my lungs and sent my hand into flaming agony once again. I wined a little before I pulled myself together and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. I never would have thought that such a simple task such as walking would become so difficult for me, every time my feet took a step it sent a shockwave of pain that travelled up my leg, out to my chest and what I felt in my hand was like an aftershock. My body boiled under the heat of stress that it was being put under and all I could think about was taking the next step and getting to the body that was just barely out of reach. Once I had finally reached his still figure, I bent my knees and collapsed into them, which I can say with certainty, was a horrible idea which put me in more discomfort than I was already in. But at least I made it to his body, that’s an accomplishment.

My legs were drenched in his cold blood, I could feel it but I couldn’t see it that well, he wasn’t moving, that’s for sure. I hesitantly reached out my left hand and touched his hand, making sure to not breathe in the prominent smell of metal that seemed to radiate off of his form. “Kai, wake up.” My voice was hoarse and scratchy as it came from my throat, I coughed a few times before I could continue taking in air. What came up didn’t surprise me much but rather made me worry, I rubbed the slimy red off on my pants leg and returned my focus to Kai. “Come on, don’t be dead please. I still need your help getting out of here.” I turned him a little to get a better look at his head injury, he was bleeding but it didn’t look that bad really. Most of his body was swollen and all different shades of discolouration, blue, black and red where the blood was clotting. I had to fight back my food when I turned his body. The smell hit me full force and the weight was straining my muscles of the last little bit of energy they had left. I managed to turn him over but the sudden snap that echoed from my chest sent my mind reeling and my resistance flying out the window. I turned my body and head away from Kai, which hurt me so much, and threw up everything that I had eaten that evening. At that moment I felt like dying, I felt empty and I felt pain, it was always pain. My eyes hardly stayed open long enough to see how I had collapsed to the ground next to Kai and just drifted off into the sweet bliss of exhaustion.

“-ole, roll over.” The distant voice rang through my head and woke me up from my sleep. It was deep and rumbled a bit, I could hear that is was extremely close to me. “Five more minutes dad.” I mumbled out and turned my head further away, my hand was searching for the blanket. But then a sharp and sudden pain made me jolt to life, I yelped and sprang up, eyeing my bloody hand. At first I thought that I was still dreaming and that my subconscious was messing with me, but when I hesitantly reached out to touch it then I yelped again and put as much distance between me and my hand as possible. “W-wha’ happened?” I asked the slightly fuzzy man kneeling in front of me. “Calm down, I need to close that wound of yours and at least wrap it up. I’m Doctor Julian.” My horrified expression told him what state I was in, I couldn’t comprehend _why_ may hand was broken and wet with _my own_ blood. _“Why is my hand broken?”_ He chuckled under his breath and proceeded to take various medical supplies out of his little bag. I really couldn’t remember when, why or how I had broken my hand. And why didn’t my dad take me to the hospital or something? “Cole, you’re in shock. Once you calm down then you’ll start feeling better okay.” All I could do was nod my head and hold my hand out for him to clean up.

While waiting for the doctor to do his job my eyes wondered around the room, I was in a dark place, the same dark room that our slaves usually go to. There was blood spread throughout the room, against the walls and mostly on the floor, I had to hold back a gag at the sight. Then my eyes travelled down to my clothing where my shirt was soaked with dry blood and my pants had smudges of it, I frowned and bit my lip as I tried to understand where all this had come from. Then I looked to my side and saw a body, I shrieked and nearly jumped out of my skin at the sight, which of cause sent a shock of pain to my hand but I could hardly focus on that. I quickly scooted away while the doctor held onto my arm to keep me still. “Cole, Cole! Listen, he’s not dead.” I turned towards the commanding voice and tried to avert the body that could just barely be seen in the corner of my eye. “Who is he?” I asked with concern as I watched the doctor take out some cotton wool. “I really don’t know. I came in and saw you two just laying here fast asleep.” I gathered up enough strength to look back over at the boy next to me, at least he looked like he was breathing. Or was that just my imagination playing tricks on me? “Can you help him?” I asked the doctor but not before flinching when the sharp stinging of the disinfectant seeped into my cut. “Careful!” I received a breathy laugh and a short apology, but not a reply to my answer.

“Doctor Julian?” My voice was much softer since I had calmed down from the initial pain, my hand was currently being wrapped up and was hardly visible beneath the clean white tapes that were hiding it. “Yes?” he answered with a small smile on his face. I could see that he was concentrating and was certainly very good at his job, his platinum blonde hair was neatly combed to the back with only a few stubborn stands daring to fall in his face. He simply blew them away with a short breath if they ever got in the way. If his short hair was annoying him so much then he would hate to have my hair, it was practically glued to the side of my face. “You never did answer my question.” I continued and I saw him pause for a moment before finishing up his own work, he glanced at the boy beside me before sighing. “Your father told me to help you and only you. He said that the other on isn’t important.” Confusion washed across my face but was quickly replaced by anger. “Why would he say that?” then I realised that the boy must be a slave.

And that’s when it hit me. My father was hurting Kai and I broke my hand chasing after them and then got locked in with him. “His name is Kai.” I whispered out. The doctor raised an eyebrow at me and then to the slave. “His name is Kai and he’s my slave.” I looked towards the unconscious body and then said in a much softer voice, “He’s my friend.” The doctor then looked to me with a small but bright smile across his lips. “I could give you some supplies and tell you what to do, then I wouldn’t technically be helping the other boy. But you need to be careful because you’ve hurt your ribs and I’ll need to do an x-ray to find out if you have a broken rib or something else.” He explained to me and then began hastily taking other things out of his little supply bag.

He handed me a small role of bandages and some blocks of gauze. “If he is still bleeding then apply pressure to the wound. You can clean it up with this,” he lifted the cotton wool, “and this.” He then took out some of his disinfectant but in a much smaller bottle. “And when your done then just wrap it up nice and tight like I did with your hand, okay?” I nodded and looked at my hand before looking at the boy. “Okay, thanks.” He smiled and stood up, he walked to the door with back up strait while he fixed his hair. “Good luck.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he stepped through the doorway and closed the door. I don’t know how I failed to notice it before but when I looked closely then I could spot a small splotch of blood of the side of the door. That must’ve been from when it slammed into my hand.

“Okay Kai, let’s get you fixed up.” I said to myself mostly and positioned my body so that his head could rest in my lap. It was painful and revolting, two very unpleasant things that I seemed to acknowledge at the same time, that doctor was right about my ribs being hurt, it felt like maybe it was broken. Kai dampened my pants once again and I fought hard to hold back from leaning over and puking my guts out. But now that I smelt the air, it already smelt like vomit in here. I turned my head slightly and gazed upon the discoloured liquid spewed across the floor, my mind concluded that I may have been responsible for that and I should probably turn my head away before that happens again.

I cleaned to wound with the cotton wool, making sure to be careful around the small gash that was on his forehead, it really didn’t look that bad when all the blood was gone. Then I proceeded to press the gauze onto the small open wound, it stopped bleeding soon after but the time it took to get to that point was much longer than that if a person able to use both hands would have taken to do it. I wrapped his head up as best I could and sat him up right next to me. My internal clock told me that it was round about late morning, but I couldn’t see, the only thing that make my estimate partially true was the rumble in my stomach. I sure was hungry, but I doubt that my father would make an effort to bring me some food or water, especially since he left me in my previous state. “Well Kai, I guess it’s just you and me now. At least, until my dad comes back.” I mumbled and rested a hand on my torso.

“Are you hungry too?” I asked and looked over to see that Kai had his head resting on my shoulder, it slumped down quite low with my body. All I could do was wait, wait for my dad to show up, wait for Kai to wake, wait for my body to stop hurting. In all honesty, this waiting was driving me insane. “When are you going to wake up Kai, I’m bored.”

“And how would you like me to entertain you?”

“You’re awake!” I ignored the dulled throbbing pain in my ribs and turned to wrap my arms around his body. I smiled with glee as I pulled him closer. After a few moments he hesitantly responded to my hug, he was warm and soft and loveable and everything that I needed in a person right now. “I missed you so much, I thought you were dead.” Kai made a sound that was something of a grunt and a snort combined, “I thought so too.” Was his only reply.

When we let each other go Kai moved his hands to inspect the bandages that covered his head. I watched as his hand glided over the bumpy and rough material, his face shifted from concern to confusion and finally rested on neutral. “You have a lot of bruises all over your body but your head seemed to have the most damage. There was a doctor here that gave me some things to help you.” He nodded, satisfied with the explanation, until his eyes travelled down to my hand. I followed his gaze and covered the injured hand with my good one, “I broke my hand. It’s okay now though.” I brushed it off, he didn’t have to worry about me right now. We needed to figure out a plan to get out of here and find some proper help. I was about to voice my thoughts when Kai spoke up first. “Why did you come after me?” I stared at him stunned, ‘why would my father beat him for no reason?’ would have been a better question surely. “W-what do you mean? I couldn’t just leave you with him” I had a surprised and confused smile across my face, maybe he had gotten his head hit harder than I thought. “You didn’t have to.” His face was neutral and refused to betray him of his emotions. “I don’t think my morals would agree.” I argued back and tried to figure out what had caused him to think about this, it was over, it was done. We needed to find a way out of here now not argue about the past. “He hurt be more because you wanted to protect me, then he hurt you.” My mouth opened to deny it but he had a point, but was he blaming me for all the pain that he went through? It’s not my fault, I was trying to help him, and I didn’t want him to get beaten. If it was anyone’s fault then it was Kai, there had to be a reason for my father to get so mad as to drag him out.

“Are you saying that I’m the reason all _this_ happened?” I pointed to myself, he didn’t reply but only stared right into my eyes. His golden amber no longer brought me serine comfort but rather stood there, judging me for the ‘crimes’ I had committed. I let out a breathy laugh that made my ribs tingle, this was hilarious how he blamed me for our predicament. “You know what, it’s not my fault, and it’s not because of me that you got beaten. You’re just a little confused since you got hit in the head-”

“Because you didn’t listen to your father.” He interrupted me, this was getting annoying and pointless and energy wasting. “We don’t have time to deal with this right now, we either work together to get out or… or we wait for my father to come back and…”

It was a scary thought, I couldn’t imagine my father hurting me, much less killing me or another human being. But after what happened last night, I had no doubt that he was a dangerous man, someone that I could not trust not to hurt me more that he already had. I could barely comprehend the thought of my father, the person I look up to and was supposed to protect me, doing this much damage to his own son.

Only when I felt smooth, wet and warm steaks flowing down my face did I snap back to reality. I turned away from Kai because there was no way that I’d want him to see me weak and petty. He’d gone through so much worse and I had no right to sit here and cry about my daddy issues. A small and quiet hiccup escaped my lips as I wiped my eyes, I was feeling hot and uncomfortable in the room, it felt as though the walls were smothering me and drowning me in an ocean of terrible thoughts. My tears had stopped after a few moments and I was left breathing heavily in a dirty room filled with things that could only be found in my worst nightmares. “Cole?” Kai’s voice drifted through my mind, it felt like a hallucination really, surreal. Kai moved in front of me and laid a hand on my shoulder, it was light and uncertain but it was there. My eyes made contact with his own and I could feel him drowning out the shadows that threatened to engulf me. “Cole.” His voice had a much softer tone to it, it circled my mind like a blanket that covered and protected me from the cold.

“I sorry.” He looked away as he spoke, as if ashamed of something that he had done. I continued to stare, and read the change of expression that flowed across his face. Conflict, uncertainty, confusion and fear. I was almost sure that I mirrored him, I was afraid, unsure and hurt physically and mentally. "Me too.” I said. His gaze then returned to me and some little speck of something else took residence in his eyes, some kind mischievous sparkle. His hand stayed rested on my shoulder and he averted his eyes and bounced them around the room. I looked at him, expecting him to do something but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was, maybe it filling a void.

It took a split second to catch up with how fast he moved, my mind was a blur and my head melted in the heat. Plump, soft, gentle, all the things you never would have been able to prepare yourself for, it was firm but not forceful, perfect really. I just never expected my first kiss to be with my first slave. My eyes slowly closed and I willed myself to calm down and relax my surprised and stiffened body. His hand let go and drifted away from my body and soon we lost all contact, my eyes opened to see him looking at me with a light dust of pink covering his cheeks.

“That.” I have no idea what it was supposed to mean but I felt like I just had to point it out, to reassure myself that what just happened was real and not just a figment of my imagination. “M-my dad used to do it to my mom to make her feel better.” He admitted and looked away as the blush darkened. I took his hand in my own and laced out fingers together, I don’t know what I was feeling at that moment but I felt that it had to be done. Burning heat surrounded me, my thoughts were all jumbled up and my senses tuned out almost completely. But what I was doing felt right. “It worked.” I made sure to add a smile at the end for good measure.

“So what-”

The sudden bang of the door swinging open drew both of our eyes to the bright and shining light from outside. “What’s going on here?” My dad’s thundering voice travelled across the small room and bounced from the walls, making it sound like thunder. Both Kai and myself flinched at the volume and quickly untangled our hands but Lou had already spotted the intimate contact. His eyes widened for a second before narrowing into thin slits that seemed to cut into my very being. “Dad it’s not-” I didn’t have time to finish, Lou had stomped over to my side and grabbed my hand–the broken one—and dragged me out across the room. I screamed and cried and cursed my brain for focusing on the sharp sensation that shocked my hand and arm. Kai rushed after my dad and tried to get him away but was forced to the ground with a solid kick to the leg.

The door shut, a trail of blood followed us and my voice had died out long before. Dark splotches danced around in my vision before my eyes couldn’t bear to stay open anymore, the pain numbed and so did the pounding in my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I planned out this story, I knew exactly what was going to happen; Kai was going to wake up, him and Cole would make a plan to get Lou ‘out of the equation’ and then they would all live happily ever after, but then this monstrosity happened. And now I have pushed myself into a teeny tiny little corner.  
> Please leave a review on what you think will happen next, will Cole die, will Kai die and what could have happened to Nya? Now I’ll need to change the summary.  
> Thanks for reading and can someone please write a Hunger Games AU for Ninjago? And maybe a Divergent one too? (Sorry for all the requests :D)


	4. Kai?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve changed this author’s note so many times, it’s not even fun anymore. Please give me the strength to finish this! Warning; this chapter contains mentions of BDSM and if you don’t know what that is then you should be safe. I think. (Should I raise the rating?) Also, it has some swearing close to the end.

Ouch.

My head throbbed with a gentle pulse that rippled my mind as if it were water. I might’ve been able to fall back asleep if that hadn’t bothered me as much as it did. It was pounding the more I tried to ignore it, and believe me, I tried. I think I mumbled or did something in my sleep because soon I heard a voice attempt to penetrate the sleepy mist covering me.

“Master?” _Master?_ Who is this? Kai? No, it can’t be, he was locked up and I doubt dad would let him go so soon. Who else was in the house though? Oh yeah, that’s right, Kai’s sister Nya was still in my dad’s room. He probably brought me back up here. Maybe. “Master, are you awake?”

Hmm, I better answer her soon before she pushes on and it gets annoying in trying to get me up. When my eyes fluttered open to the relatively dim room, it didn’t take long to blink the sleep out of my eyes. I could barely keep my eyes open to look at the blurry shapes in the room, but her little red dress stood out vividly against the dark background of my father’s room. I groaned and let my head fall back onto the pillow it was previously on. This was nice, soft, comfortable and harmless. “Where’s my dad?” I mumble to Nya who busied herself with making sure that not a single speck of dust landed on the smooth wood surfaces. My throat felt scratchy and I could tell that my voice sounded different, I cleared my throat a few times before the girl answered with her meek voice.

“He, uh, left. He didn’t say where he would be or when he would be back. But he did tell me to feed you when you woke up.” She stood in front of the bed with her arms crossed at her front as she waited for me to get up or ask for the promised food. I continued to snuggle into the soft fluffy pillow below my head until thoughts drifted through my mind. It was really unwelcoming since they burnt like acid, I wanted to get them out and not think at all. But then again; they were all about Kai. Kai…

“And, w-what about Kai? Your brother?” My voice was softer and I slightly tensed. I heard her short but sharp intake of breath before I had to wait a few moments before she could answer me. I expected the worse, I expected Kai to be send to the police for punishment or maybe even worse; death. The more I thought about it and the longer I waited, the more hope I lost to my torturous thoughts.

“My brother is still in the room he was locked in.” The room fell into a pleasant silence as I processed the information, so all hope wasn’t lost yet. “But I’m worried about him. I fear that your father might come back and finish what he started.” She pipped up behind me. “ _Okay Cole, get your lazy ass up from this bed and go help_.” I pushed myself up using my good hand. My injured hand didn’t bother me at all this time, neither did the ache in my ribs but I didn’t want to do anything drastic in case I risked interrupting the healing process. When I sat up a wave of dizziness flowed over me and I blinked a few times to steady myself, the blur of red walked over to my side and in her small tanned hands she held a bowl of wonderful smelling soup. The blurriness cleared from my vision and I could see the floating bits of vegetables on the surface as the steam raised and assaulted my nose with its tempting smell. The last time I’d eaten was probably a few hours ago so I wasn’t as hungry as I’d like to have been, besides, the sick feeling that rested in the pit of my stomach warned of puke if I decided to eat this. The girl sitting next to me nudged the bowl closer to my hand, urging me to take it and eat. I looked up at her, getting a good look at the soft feminine features; the plump, red lips that were meant for smiling, the smooth skin that begged to be caressed and the short, straight hair that rested just under her chin, the ends curling slighting along the curves of her face. I drew my eyes back to the soup and then to her face.

“You need this more than I do.” She lifted her head to face me, surprise written clearly across her features.

“But you’re father gave instructions to give this to you.” She argued back and gave a small smile.

“It’s okay, you need it more than I do.” She looked down at the bowl of soup now resting in her lap. “Eat up so that we can get your brother.”

While Nye busied herself with eating as fast as possible, I had gotten up and wandered around the room. “Is the door locked?” She replied with a simple shack of her head as her mouth was flooded. And smiled at her child-like features, though I wondered how she and Kai were related since they looked nothing alike. My father’s cupboard was locked, the shining piece of metal taunted me as I looked at it. Luckily I knew the password, after a few shifts of the round knob the lock easily slide down and I opened the door. But oh my god I wish I hadn’t.

Where coats were meant to be hung, handcuffs replaced them, some as shinny as a polished coin, others thick, dark and heavy as the leather that made them. Along with the hanging cuffs were collars, they were studded, a few had detailed designs on them that would have made them beautiful if they weren’t fucking _collars_. Oh god and then there were chains and harnesses and tape and whips and–

I threw the door shut, causing it to bang and Nya to let out a tiny yelp as she stood from sitting on the bed. My hands shook and my eyes were wide as I looked around for anything to distract me from the images of my dad that were currently flashing through my mind. I looked at the small table next to the bed… _where he could have tied her to or kept the cuffs till he needed them_. I shook my head, then I looked at the small mat that rested on the floor in front of the bed, I light earth brown… _where he could have been standing and_ –

I took in a deep breath and paced the room, Nya gave me worried look as her eyes followed me up and down. Hundreds of memories surfaced of when I’d put on headphones to block out the sounds or when I’d beg to sleep over at a friend’s house when he’d gotten a new slave, I clenched my fist and willed the images to stop. Then my eyes slowly looked over to where Nya was standing with her hands nervously shifting in front of her body.

“I slept on that bed.”

My murmur was hardly heard in the deathly silence of the room, the air seemed to compress against my skin making goosebumps travel up my arms and sending sharp shards of ice down my back. _I slept on that bed_. Whatever was in my stomach pushed up with such a strong force that I was afraid to run to the bathroom in case I only made it come up faster. But I didn’t care, when I dropped to my knees in front of the clean, white toilet I emptied myself of everything. I thought my organs would come up with the puke that was currently gushing out of my mouth, it burned and hurt and only intensified the images that surfaced in my mind, reminding me of why I’m throwing up.

Nye entered the room with a terrified face, watching me as sagged over the toilet, barely able to keep myself up. Once I ran out of liquid to empty myself of I slowly walked over to the sink with a wobble in my step and washed my mouth out. I looked up at Nya who had large brown saucer eyes, “You know, if I hadn’t broken my hand last night I swear this would be the worst moment of my life.” I tried cracking a smile at her and all she could respond with was an awkward smile of her own. I dried my mouth with a towel and walked back out to the room, telling myself that no more investigating of dad’s private stuff was necessary.

I guided Nya down the passage and stairs, keeping a look out for my father in case there was a chance that he might be home and find us. Bright golden rays of sunshine peeked in through the windows and lit up the house, warming it from the inside and brightening the dark and gloomy walls. I almost felt safe under its gentle touch. The aged wooden door came into view and a rush of memories assaulted my mind once more; Kai being dragged into that dark place, my hand being smashed by its hardened strength and my father, confessing his hate for a mother I no longer had. After an attempt at calming myself down I looked around for the small flower pot that held the spare key to the cellar. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that last night instead of insulting my father and antagonising an already angry man. The small bronze item was quickly taken over to the black keyhole and pushed in before I turned it, but it didn’t budge. “What?” I tried again and gripped the handle, turning it again only to get the same result. I let go of the key and just turned the handle to find that the door was already unlocked, Nya grew impatient beside me and peaked over my shoulder to get a look at the shadow covered room. The brightness from the passage seeped in and brought light to the stained floors and scratched walls.

“Kai?” Her voice held hope. Hope that I knew would soon be utterly destroyed. “Kai, where are you?” Nya forced her way passed me and walked into the door, frantically looking for her brother. I pushed the door further open and let the light flood the smaller area, everything looked in place. Except Kai wasn’t there. “He’s supposed to be in here.” She whispered to herself and a shining gloss covered her eyes and threatened to spill onto her cheeks. I watched as the colour drained from her face and her nose turned red as she struggled to hold back tears, her dark eyes continued searching for her brother even through the blur. Her fingers shook as she fumbled her hands together as a form of distraction. She sniffed. Her heart broke and her mind worked hard to deny what was happening, I could see it, she was desperate. Her breathing was hardly even, intakes that were short and useless, she turned to every corner and studied every crack, begging to stumble upon her brother’s body.

“Nya…” I called out to her from the doorway, watching as she walked the length of the room, then again, hoping that a shred of a clue would appear. “He’s not here.”

“Then where is he?” That was a question I was dying to know myself but neither of us knew the answer.

“I don’t know.” My eyes drifted down to the floor, where I remembered being dragged out with the image of Kai watching. I remembered the kiss he’d given when he tried to comfort me, rather awkwardly. And I remember the daydream of molten amber and the happiness that rushed through my veins just at the thought of being that close to him. I remember how he tried to stop my dad and how he failed and fell to the ground.

“I don’t know.”

****

**_*Pause for dramatic effect*_ **

 

The soft, barely audible melody of a song reached my ears, it was my phone ringing. A frown came to my face and I was debating whether I should just let it ring. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone now, especially if it was my father calling to gloat. After a short while the ringing stopped and my head fell back down and I wallowed in my own self-pity as Nya continued searching and her sobs wracked her small body while tears streamed down her tanned face. There was a minute of partial silence before my phone started ringing again. I groaned as my frustration bubbled up, I turned around and ran upstairs to shut this person up.

When I got to my room I had to follow the sound as my phone played hide-and-seek with me, once I finally found it under my pillow I saw the picture of Jay. His ginger hair fell over his face and his dark blue irises were barely visible as he tried to pull a funny face. Sliding the green answer button across my screen, I lifted the phone to my ear.

“What?”

“Well hello to you too buddy.”

“Jay, now’s not a good time.”

“Yeah, your dad said you were sick, and moody so you didn’t feel like coming to school. Though I have no idea how moodiness gets you a free ‘stay away from school’ card, but you’re dad’s pretty cool so I guess it kinda makes–”

“Jay, shut up. Please.” I rubbed my forehead which proved trickier since I was still very afraid of hurting my hand but I didn’t want the headache Jay was currently creating.

“Defiantly got the moody part right,” I heard him mumble from the other side and I scrunched my eyebrows together. _I’m not_ that _moody_. “Anyway, I called to say thanks for the going away gift.”

“Going away gift?”

“You know, the slave you got me. Brown hair, tall and he’s got these amazing eyes! Seriously, they’re awesome.”

My eyes widened in recognition, “Jay, where are you now?”

“Umm, we’re driving to the airport.”

“Don’t get on that plane okay, I’ll be right there!”

“What? Why d–” I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence but ended the call and went to stuff my phone in my pocket only to notice that I was still in sleepwear.

“Shit…” I ran to my cupboard and yanked a jacket out, then I moved to my drawers where I pulled out the first jeans and t-shirt I could get my hands on. I quickly got dressed as best I could and slipped on my black sneakers that forever sat next to my bed. I made my way downstairs, tying my shoes and pulling my clothes right along the way. “Nya!”  I called when I got downstairs and looked down the passageway leading to the cellar. “I think I just found your brother.” I smiled and walked towards the door when I got no answer from her. “Nya?” my voice got quieter, so did my movements. The room was deathly quiet and I knew something was wrong but the only reason for the stillness would be my father. I made a sharp U-turn and ran to the front door, grabbing a key off the hook and unlocking the amber door with shaking fingers.

“Son…” He sang, he sounded far but close enough to make my body shiver with the same fear that had me fumbling my fingers. The key fell out of my hands just as the door clicked open and I pulled the handle down. Swinging the wooden thing open as fast as I could, I put my first foot out the door as the sweet morning air of summer washed over my face and the sounds of birds drifted to my ears. The calming smells of the new flowers in front of our house made my fear dissipate… until a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled be back so hard I stumbled to the floor.

“You’ve been a very bad boy.” He wagged his finger at me, belittling me and treating me like I was five again. I found it hard to swallow as I eyed the door that was left ajar, letting the cool air blow inside and sooth my burning body. My breathing quickened as I looked at the arm that was suspiciously hidden behind his back. He towered over me, threatening me as he took small steps.

I didn’t have time for this, I need to get to the airport. As he approached me with a menacing frown upon his face I kicked him in the knee, he paused and grabbed at his injured limb. I took this moment to get up and make another run to the door. I tripped down the two steps leading up to our door, I thought I’d be caught again as worry spilled from my pores and made my mind dizzy with fear but I made it to the street. I pulled my phone from my back pocket as I heard strained breathing and heavy footsteps so close it felt as though he could touch me. Every step on the hard tarmac caused my heart to beat a little faster, my breath to quicken, my palms to drip with sweat.

“Call Lloyd.” I said in my hurry and took the risk of looking behind me to see my dad so close, a burst of adrenaline hit me so hard that my shoes scrapped against the tar because I didn’t bother to lift them high enough before taking the next leap.

“Hey, Lloyd speaking.”

“Lloyd!” I said with relief and a little breathless.

“Hi dude, how are you?”

“I need your help please.” I tried to quicken my pace as I felt myself slowing down. _How is this guy even keeping up?_

“Sure, I guess. Whatcha need?”

“You know how to drive your dad’s car right?”

“Oh, no. No. I got grounded for six months last time I tried that man, I can’t go through eating dry toast and beans for dinner every night again. Plus I missed Jay’s birthday party!”

“Lloyd, my dad is chasing me down the street. He broke my hand and beat me. I _really_ need your help.”

“…Fuck.”

“Thanks man, I owe you one.”

“Yeah, you’re making me dinner for the next six months… You know, on second thought you can just buy me pizza every night or something.”

Lloyd put the phone down just as I was tripped and fell painfully on the ground. I felt the rough surface scrap against my hand as I tried to lessen the pain on impact which didn’t work so well because now both my hands hurt. Great. My dad fell too and we were both on the ground, me trying to get away from him and him trying to grab a hold of me. My ribs hurt, burnt really, my hands were on fire as they aided in my frantic and fear fuelled crawling. “Fuck off man!”

I kicked the old thing in the face and heard the disgusting yet satisfying crack of his nose as my old sneakers made contact. He pulled back and grabbed his nose as blood immediately started gushing out and dripping down his chin, covering his hand. I jumped up again but I was limping this time, the fall damaged my ribs more than I thought and my adrenaline was wearing out as the sharp sensation returned to my upper body.

A silver and black car swerved around the corner and came to a sudden stop next to me. The messy rag of blonde hair told me that Lloyd had succeeded in stealing his dad’s car, the door unlocked with a soft click and I quickly opened the door as I saw my dad get up and make his way to me.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon get your ass back home right now!”

“Good morning Mr Garmadon!” I shouted and did a quick wave before my backside hit the smooth plush of the leather seats.

“Oh god I am so dead when I get back.” Lloyd looked into the rear view mirror and saw his father speed walking to the car. He slammed his foot on the gas, only swerve out of the way to avoid hitting _my_ father. “Jesus Christ Cole, what the hell happened to your dad?” He asked and quickly looked my way before bringing his attention back to the road.

“It’s a long story. Can you take me to the airport? I need to get to Jay before they leave.” I looked down at my scrapped hand to see that the skin was just slightly peeling off, nothing major.

“Can’t I just have a normal Friday just this once? Fuck.”

The slight vibration in my pocket and the soft melody of a song emitted from my pants, I pulled my phone out only to cringe at Jay’s face. _I am never getting used to that_.

“Hello?”

“Dude, where are you? My plane departs in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll be right there, just wait for me okay?”

“You have ten minute then I’m leaving.” Jay ended the call before I could answer, I guess he wanted to get me back for last time.

“Cole, what the fuck is going on?” Lloyd turned to face me as the red light shined in front of us, we weren’t far from the airport so I guess it was okay for him to still obey the law.

I sighed and rubbed where my ribs were currently bugging me. “It’s about a guy… that I met… he’s also my slave…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES! FINALLY AFTER DAYS OF WRITING AND RE-WRITING I.AM.DONE! With the forth chapter anyway. Yes I hope you people enjoyed that, I certainly enjoyed writing it and I kinda just let I flow ya know? It felt good. And I got a lot in here too so that’s a plus. Please excuse the excess amount of swearing, I just find it adds to the characters and I think it’s funny. Lloyd’s fun to write, really I enjoyed doing he’s dialogue so much.  
> Please leave your thoughts and I’m pretty sure you can already guess how this story will come to an end… or can you? …


	5. Goodbyes?

“Okay, Okay, let me get this straight. Your dad bought you a slave,” he looked my way quickly and I nodded, “and then he started beating Kai because…” Lloyd then drifted off.

  
“Uh, I don’t really know. I think he was drunk.” Or high, “But I’m not really sure. All I know is that things are really messed up right now.” I looked down where my hand rested across my torso. I saw Lloyd’s worried look form the corner of my eye. “I’m okay. Really. It’s just a bruise.”

  
“You’re such a shitty liar, you know that Cole.” He shook his head in disapproval, “I’m taking you to the hospital when we get your boyfriend back.”

  
I smiled, not really caring for the time being, all I really wanted to do was get Kai back. And hopefully avoid my dad until I could get things sorted and my life back on track, which I admit, is highly unlikely. But, a guy can hope right? I exhaled and focused on the sounds of cars around me rather than the throbbing of my ribs or my hand. My mind was still riding the high of escaping my dad, everything seemed like one giant blur from the beginning, ever since we bought Kai and Nya. Nya… I wonder what my dad did to her. I should have done a quick check of the house before I left, maybe she could have come with me or at the very least, gotten away from my dad. I really hope she was okay, Kai would be devastated if the only family he has left was gone.

  
“How far till the airport?” I asked and looked over to Lloyd who seemed a bit agitated.

  
He cleared his throat before speaking, “Not long I think, just a few-”

  
Once again the air in my lungs was stolen out, my mind kicked into overdrive but I don’t know how. All I could see was black, white specks dancing through the veils of swirling darkness. I tried blinking, but the blinding morning rays sent sharp electric sparks of pain through my eyes. My brain was bombarded with all sorts of unpleasant feelings, dizziness and pain. Pain was the most prominent, the smell of oil and petrol made me want to cringe and I certainly would have if the slightest movement didn’t make me feel like screaming. I couldn’t move my head but I could tell from where I was that the seats were above me. Dark leather ripped by small shards of metal and glass was what I could make out from my blurry image. And a hand.

  
“Lloyd?” I couldn’t hear so well but I knew that came out as nothing more than a pathetic groan. I wanted to reach out, to grasp his hand and stop the dripping blood. There was so much red, everywhere. It was warm, kind of comforting from the freezing cold that seemed to be creeping up on me.

“Lloyd?” I tried again and this time it was louder. My eyes fluttered closed and I struggled to fight the overwhelming need for sleep that was covering me.

  
No! I can’t, I need to get to Kai. And get him back from Jay and away from my dad. I need to make sure him and his sister will be safe. I can’t sleep now… the buzzing noise beside my head helped keep me up. A dim light slowly travelled over the roof of the car but I hardly had the energy to reach for it. My phone was ringing.

  
A whimper escaped from my mouth as I attempted to lift my head, my eyes were half closed and I could hardly see a thing through the blood covering my face but I couldn’t just lay here. My neck cramped and refused to move more than a few centimetres but that was all I needed. I could already see the blue and red lights flashing through the shattered glass and punctured body of the car.

  
The panic finally kicked it and suddenly I was choking on the horrible, metallic tasting blood that was flooding my mouth. It seemed to come from everywhere, from Lloyd, my head, my mouth and probably my body as well. My body convulsed as adrenaline was pumped through my cut veins, pouring out of me and leaving me as cold as if I was drowning in an iced over river. “Lloyd.” I begged, hoping that his hand would twitch or maybe his head would move and that pale childlike face would look at me and tell me everything was okay. Breathing became all that much harder, I spluttered blood which only added to the growing pool of it around me. I blinked franticly, my world fazed in and out of darkness like shutters fluttering open and closed, the sunshine seemed less of a bother now that I could barely stop staring at the shining light that I could see.

  
My head hurt, but I couldn’t think of that and the pain spreading throughout my body slowly numbed out as the seconds or minutes passed. My sense of time was gone, I could only remember the time when my eyes were open and I was staring at my friends cut arm, blood flowing out. It didn’t even faze me after a while.  
I opened my eyes when the loud screeching of metal surrounded me. The warmth of sun crept over my back and woke me up from the chilly sleep. I could hear the faint echoing of voices and the chatter of a crowd maybe. One of them touched me, or more, I don’t know. The excruciating rise of pain made my mind dizzy with the forceful intrusion. I groaned as my body was maneuvered and taking away from the mangled mess of a car. I can’t remember most of it, my mind was pushed back into that confused and painful sleep.

  
The sun woke me up again, this time the bright light of something else did too. Grey hair caught my attention, light grey hair and pale skin. She had fuzzy green eyes too, and glossed lips. She stood out against the mix of swirling blue and white above her. The women snapped her fingers in front of my face, I followed them and felt confused but I don’t know why. “Cole, can you hear me?” Her voice was muffled by the frenzy of sounds that circled us. “Cole, I’m going to need you to follow this light, okay?” the bright speck of white shone in my eyes, it moved to the side a little and I tried my best to focus on following it. My mind was in so much pain that it was hard just keeping my eyes open, let alone telling them the follow a speck of light.

  
“That’s great. Okay, Cole, we’re going get you to the hospital.” No, what about Lloyd and Kai? We need to get to the airport. I grumbled and tried moving my arms but I couldn’t even feel them. “Don’t worry, we’re getting your friend out right now.”

  
The last thing I saw before I heard the shutting doors of the ambulance was her smiling face and the gentle buzzing of a machine.

  
***pause, and breathe***

  
Argh. I clenched my eyes, willing the annoying, yet soft, beeping to stop. It pulsed through my head and preventing me from falling back asleep. I groaned and tried ignoring the pestering sounds, I took note of the other machines surrounding me. The low humming was more than annoying and caused me to force my eyes open. Bright light filtered in through the large glass window off to the side, the blinds were open and I could look over the city from this high up.

  
When I reached up the rub the sleep out of my eyes I saw that an IV was connected to my arm as well as a few other things that appeared to me poking into me. I gazed at the room, clean and white walls surrounded me. The bed’s covering in the same pristine white while the blanket was a pale blue. From the small window in the door my eyes caught sight of the multiple nurses and doctors walking by. With the remote next to my hand, I lifted the bed and put myself in a sitting position so that looking around would be easier.

  
From under my thin robe my chest was bandaged, my hand ran over the scratchy material before I examined myself further. I don’t know how I missed it but my other hand was covered in a bulky cast. “What?” I blinked, trying to remember how I ended up here and why my hand was covered up.

  
The beeping at my side quickened and soon a women in a white lab coat entered with a tabloid resting on her arm. “Hello Cole.” He greeted. She must be my doctor.

  
“Hi.” I answered in a softer tone and looked to her for answers.

  
“My name is Dr Borg. Do you remember how you ended up here, Cole?” I shook my head. No. “Okay, do you remember how you hurt your hand?” I shook my head again. No. “Hmm…” she humped and fiddled with the tabloid before setting it down and standing in front of my bed.

  
“Cole. You are here because you were in a car accident.” What? I huffed and tried to let the information settle and process. “However, you sustained injuries prior to the collision which are still to be explained. Your hand was broken and several ribs were fractured.” I turned away from her, my eyes burning while my throat tightened.

  
“Who was with me in the crash?” I asked, suddenly concerned for the other person I probably don’t even know.

  
“A young boy your age, Lloyd Garmadon. He was driving and was unconscious when we arrived at the scene. He sustained minor injuries, one of which was a cut arm and a mild concussion. He’s with his father now.” I nodded my head waiting for her to go on. “The other driver was a middle-aged man who, the police say he was the cause of the collision. He was brought in to stabilise his injuries and then taken away. I’m afraid that I do not know much about him.”

  
I looked down at my arm, feeling uncomfortable and confused. “Why can’t I remember what happened to me?”

  
She exhaled and clutched the railings of the bed before giving her answer. “You sustained minor head injuries in addition to the internal bleeding. We believe that you may have temporary short term memory loss, at this point in time we are unable to tell how extensive the damage is.” She paused and looked at me with sorrow in her eyes before it was replaced by a look of professionalism. “What’s the last thing you remember, Cole?”

  
I closed my eyes and thought for a moment, “Me and my dad were at an auction.” I remember it was the third one that week, my dad had wanted me to pick out a slave of my own. “And, we bought a slave. Two slaves.”

  
She hummed and then typed up some notes, “Do you think that this was yesterday’s auction?”

  
“Maybe.”

  
She stopped typing, “Where are your slaves now?”

  
I tried thinking again, I couldn’t put a clear picture to my thought and trying to remember was hurting my head. I bit my lip and shook my head, “I don’t know.” The doctor nodded and smiled before turning away and proceeding to the door. “Can I speak to Lloyd?” I asked before she left.

  
After checking her tabloid she smiled at me again, “I’ll see what I can do.” It was better than nothing, I decided.  
As soon as she left the room I began poking at my arm, the cast was beginning to itch. My ribs were also worrying me, it hurt to breath and I struggled to keep my mind from spiralling out of control. Next to my bed was a small cup of water and a vase with flowers in it. The room itself was dull and a bit bland, if it wasn’t white then it was grey.

  
After laying still for what felt like forever, I concluded that there was nothing wrong with my legs and that I should at least try and get up. The bed was beyond uncomfortable now and my vision was growing tired of the blue skies and rushing medical staff. I pushed the blankets off as carefully as I could and gently lowered my bare feet onto the floor. It was cold and that alone could have made me get back but I felt determined to walk around a bit more. Baby steps.

  
I dragged my IV with me, I didn’t want to anger the doc’s and I think I need this thing. I trudged over to the window, I don’t know what I was expecting to see though. I just needed a change of view. I gazed down at the multiple cars and ambulances out in front of the hospital, some doctors and nurses were sitting outside on the benches close by, maybe they were on their break. I turned around and made my way to the door, painfully slowly, and peeked out the little glass window. The hallways were slightly less crowded than last time. Then an idea came to me.

  
Maybe I could visit Lloyd.

  
I looked down at my ribs covered by my skimpy robe, at least by butt wasn’t exposed. I turned the handle and peeked outside before walking out into the open. One of the doctors gave me a sideways glance but didn’t question me, but that didn’t mean everyone was going to turn a blind eye. I looked through every little window I walked past, trying to catch a glimpse of my friend.

  
“What are you doing out of your room?” I turned around to meet with dark, and a bit intimidating, green eyes. Messy black hair was tied up in a loose bun, with some stands, including a few green ones, falling around his face. He narrowed his eyes and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, the dark circles under them told me that he’d been working late hours.

  
“I – um – I’m looking for the bathroom.” I quickly blubbered and clutched my IV stand. He raised a weirdly shaped eyebrow and pointed straight ahead.

  
“It’s down there, last door on your left.” He spoke slowly and continued to eye me. I put on the most innocent smile I could come up with and thanked him. He walked past me and soon I was back on my way, looking for Lloyd.  
Finally, I gazed through the right door and there lay my friend, he was staring at his hands. Lloyd’s arm was bandaged up, so was his head. As soon as I stepped inside his eyes perked up, I was greeted with confusion before his expression shifted to surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  
I shuffled as quickly as I could over to his bed side, “Move,” I said and nudged his arm slightly to the side so that I could sit next to him. Lloyd reluctantly shifted but didn’t stop watching me, confused. “I came to visit my friend.” I stated.

  
“Okay… but,” he looked me up and down, “What about Kai?”

  
I raised a questioning eyebrow at his scrunched up face, “Who’s Kai?” I asked.

  
He scoffed, “What? You forgot about him already?” he sighed and picked at the bandage around his arm. “Do you seriously not remember him?” I shook my head.

  
But I was intrigued, “The doc said I have temporary memory loss,” I began explaining, relieving some of the confusion between the two of us, “Is Kai some guy I met at school? Did I have to give something to him?” Lloyd quickly shut me up.

  
“No, no, Kai was your slave. Your dad gave him away I think, or – that’s what you told me anyway. We were driving to the airport to get him back.”

  
None of this rang a bell, not even a little chime. “Why the airport?” that must have been one of the slaves we bought at the auction.

  
‘“I want them.” I said as I turned back to the two chained teens standing on stage.’

  
“Dude, you’re serious about this?” I nodded and urged him to continue, this was getting interesting. Why would I go through all this effort for a slave? “Okay, well, your dad gave Kai to Jay. And you know, he’s leaving today. So basically you asked me to steal a car so that you could go get him back.”

  
That’s where I didn’t understand, “Why didn’t I just ask my dad?”

  
“You’re just full of questions, aren’t you?” he laughed a little before continuing. “I don’t really know what happened to your dad but I know your relationship was bit… complicated.” He shrugged, “Anyway, you were telling me the story and all of a sudden, BAM, hit by a fucking car. Which is kinda weird if you think about it ‘cause I’m an awesome driver.”

  
“Give yourself a medal.” I said flatly, “Come on, what the hell is really going on?”

  
Lloyd held up his hands in defence, “I’m telling the true.” Maybe he was… “That’s what you told me, your father was fucked up by the time I picked you up. You were running away from the guy.” I was running from my dad? I guess the surprise was evident on my face because Lloyd rubbed his injured head before sighing, “Listen dude, I honestly don’t want to ruin your day right now. I-I mean,” he let out a tired sigh again. “Just forget about it ‘kay.”

  
“Hold on, what about ‘Kai’?”

  
“That’s not important right now, you just need to get better here and your dad will come by and pick you up later.” He looked up at me with a sad, forced smile. I eyed him before standing up and shuffling back over to his door. Why was Kai so important?

  
…

  
“You know what, if he’s not gonna show then there’s no point in me standing around here like an idiot, right Zane?”

  
The blonde slave nodded with a smile at his masters frustrated pacing. “Of course.” He said softly.

  
“I mean, why does he want me to stay anyway? He didn’t seem too bothered by it a week ago when I told him and now all of a sudden he wants to hold me up. For what? Last goodbyes?” Jay scoffed and continued pacing. “I’m gonna call him. I can’t wait any longer.” He ginger pulled out his phone and held it to his ear after dialling the number.

  
“I don’t know how you put up with this guy.” He said, but this time it was directed at his newly gifted slave. All he did was flash a small ghost of a smile at his master before resuming the staring contest with the floor.

... 

  
“Can’t you get hold of my friend?”   
She gave me sad smile, a tired looking one at that, “I’m sorry Cole but Jay Walker’s flight departed an hour ago.” She pushed my arm out of the way to examine my torso. I reluctantly gave her some room.

  
“Then can you get hold of my dad?”   
She huffed but smiled at my determination, I was getting irritated with being clueless. Memory loss is not as fun as I imagined it would be.

“I’m afraid not Mr Brookstone.”

  
I clenched my fist as she prodded my injured hand. “Then what can you do?” I asked her. She eyed me through her long lashes and silvery bangs, a stare that was sure to shut me up. After picking at me and rechecking my machines, she stood up straighter.

  
“I can aid you with getting better and recovering from your injuries. I cannot get Mr Walker to come and visit you and unfortunately I cannot bring your memory back with the snap of my fingers.” She sighed and glanced my heartrate monitor. “I’m going to get someone to sit in with you. We can’t have you walking around the hospital again.” She smiled and walked out before I had the chance to defend myself. It wouldn’t have mattered, she was going to let me see Lloyd anyway.  
I huffed and collapsed into my pillow while I waited for this bodyguard of mine.

  
The door opening drew my head up and I immediately caught sight of that dark and faded green. His hair was even messier and he looked as if he was going to collapse. In his hand he held steaming coffee in a dull orange cup. My eyes followed his sluggish walking until he took a seat in front of my bed. He loosened the bun and let the hair fall down the side of his face like black and green water cascading around his head.

  
I’d had my eyes on him for a good three minutes before he looked up from drinking with a smile. “You didn’t go to the bathroom, did you?” I could see that it was rhetorical, the smile told me that much but the rest of his face was unreadable. The dead green eyes made me blink and look away, afraid that I’d melt into a puddle of acid if I stared too long.

  
“No, I didn’t. I went to visit my friend.” I replied flatly, slightly uncomfortable with his attitude.

  
He looked down again and took a sip of his coffee before he abruptly stood up and unhooked my board off the front of my bed. He paged through it slowly, reading quietly. “Hey, that’s none of your business.” I said. I hated that I sat helplessly in my bed.

  
“What are _you_ gonna do?” He asked with a smirk and a mocking glimmer in his eyes. I gulped and searched the room for something I could throw at him but besides the small cup of water, there was nothing. He hummed, knowing that my threat was not threatening in the least.

  
“Broken hand. Fractured ribs. Concussion. Internal bleeding.” He looked up at me, “You’re just a surgeon’s dream, aren’t you?” he asked sarcastically. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking him in the face. I chose to rather pick at the cast on my arm, this thing is really itchy. “Memory loss? That’s a load of shit.”

  
“What?” I asked, surprised that this sleep deprived person decided that my diagnoses was wrong. “Listen dude, I know you haven’t gotten much–”

  
“The last thing you remember is an auction, right?” I thinned my lips at being so rudely interrupted but didn’t say anything, I nodded at his question. “Okay, what were you doing there?”

  
“My dad wanted me to pick out my first slave.” I replied quietly.

  
He nodded his head in understanding, “And did you get a slave?”

  
“Yes. We bought two.”

  
His eyes perked up in interest, “What did they look like?”

  
I began getting annoyed with the questions but I decided it would be in my interest to co-operate. “They were a boy and a girl… brother and sister I think.” I closed my eyes in concentration. “They- they were messed up. Dirty and their clothes were torn.”

  
“Why did you take them?” This time the man’s question held genuine curiosity.  
I opened my eyes and looked at his serious face, almost completely awake, “I saw his eyes. They were amber coloured.”

  
_‘His eyes were a mesmerising amber that looked like molten gold swirling around. His sneer only increased as I tilted my head slightly to the side in confusion and curiosity.’_

  
“I don’t know, I was just interested in him.”

  
The doctor nodded his head, “Do you know where he is now?”

  
Yes, I did but that’s only because Lloyd told me. “He’s with my friend Jay, Lloyd said that I wanted to get him back.”

  
“Why did you want him back?”  
I rolled my eyes, “I don’t know. I can hardly remember what I had for dinner.”

  
_‘“Dad, what happens to Kai when I go to school tomorrow?” I spoke up as I played with the spaghetti on my plate.’_

  
“Spaghetti.” I murmured. I had spaghetti. “I ate spaghetti. And I asked my dad what would happen to Kai when I went to school.” I looked up to see his face confused, “My slave’s name is Kai.”

  
“What did your dad say?”

  
I looked down in… guilt? “He said he put them in the cellar.” I could already picture Kai and his sister huddled in a corner to keep warm.

  
“Tell me about Kai.” The man said and I really had to wrack my brain to find answers to that. I could hardly remember what the guy looked like, let alone his personality.

  
_‘“My name’s Kai Smith and, uh, m-my favourite colour is red.” My smile grew.’_

  
“His favourite colour is red. I don’t know much else cause we were interrupted by my dad calling for dinner.” And then I felt as if I’d been hit by a pillow. “I came back upstairs after eating, while I was in the shower my dad came into my room. When I came out I saw him dragging Kai away. He was going to beat him but I don’t know why,” I paused and tried blinking away the confusion that travelled through my mind. “I chased after them but he shut the door on my hand.” I looked down to gaze at said limb, “He broke it.”

  
The doctor hadn’t said anything but continued staring at me with a blank expression. “I made him mad and he pulled me inside and hurt me too. A lot happened but when I woke up again, I was in him room with… Nya. She’s his sister.” I clarified, “We went downstairs and Kai was gone. Jay called and said he’d gotten his ‘going away gift’.”

  
_“Anyway, I called to say thanks for the going away gift.”_

  
“When I tried to leave my dad started chasing me, I called Lloyd to take me to the airport to get Kai back.” I looked down at my hands, my high was finally over. The smaller details leaked through the cracks, the last few drops rippling through my mind and settling down for me to piece everything together.

  
“Cole,” the man set his cup down beside him and rested elbows on his legs while leaning forward. “Do you know who I am?”

  
I eyed him, trying to get any sliver of recognition from the tired face. But no, nothing came up. When I didn’t reply he rubbed his face to get the tiredness out of his eyes, I huffed and drew my lips into a thin line. This man was not amusing.

  
“I’m your uncle.” My eyes widened at the statement and sat up a little straighter, somehow urging him to continue. “From your mother’s side, my name’s Morro.” He looked up at me with a lopsided smile.

  
“Why haven’t I heard about you before?” I questioned.

  
The hesitation in his voice was not missed when he replied a moment after, “I’ve been busy. I only met you when you were much younger, and when your mother was alive.” Hesitation wasn’t the only thing present in his voice, sadness was there too. At least now I wasn’t the only one who still mourned my mom.

  
“So… you work at the hospital…” I awkwardly began.

  
He laughed a little, tired, and I remembered how he needed some sleep, “Yeah, started a few years ago.” With nothing to reply to I opted to sit in the silence that stretched between us. I felt as though it should have been uncomfortable, with me finding out about my long lost uncle and all, but it wasn’t. It was just kinda there.  
“Why didn’t you visit?” I asked, my curiosity peeking and I was suddenly interested in his absence.

  
Without missing a beat he replied, “Well Cole, if you hadn’t noticed, your dad’s a bit of an ass.” His eyebrows were raised knowingly and it made me smile, if not laugh.

  
I opened my mouth to ask another question, I seemed to be increasingly inquisitive today and I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. But unfortunately I didn’t get the chance as my room door swung open and in came rushing five frantic boys. Three of them were struggling for breath, two of which were giggling uncontrollable while the other two were uncomfortable shifting from foot to foot.

  
“Cole, I hope you realise how much effort I went through to get here.” the curly mess of ginger hair was hard to miss. “If it wasn’t for Kai and Brad then I’d be with the rest of my family right about now.” He huffed and crossed his arms.

  
I couldn’t help but let a wide grin spread when I looked over each of their faces, Brad was standing next to Lloyd, supporting him. Zane stood next to Jay, like a well behaved butler even though he was treated more like a best friend by the meddlesome boy. And then there was Kai.

  
It felt like forever since I had last seen him, he had a change of clothes now. His muscular and tanned body donned a bright red t-shirt with a black shorts and red sneakers. He looked so much better compared to the last time I saw him, his forehead had a small patch over where his cut was. The white square only served as a reminder to the horrific time we endured, I almost cringed it the thought but then I remember who was in the room with me.

  
“I missed you guys. Except Lloyd.” He stuck out his bottom lip in mock sadness but I’d just seen his ugly mug, I didn’t need to see it again. I smiled at the thought and Brad raised an eyebrow.

  
I glanced in Morro’s direction for reassurance and I was happy to be met with a smile as he nodded his head. My blankets were immediately thrown off, my feet hitting the cold ground fast enough to cause the pain in my ribs to return but I didn’t care right now. With my IV dragging behind me I walked up to Kai and before he could apologise or speak or whatever he was planning to do… I grabbed a handful of his shirt in my hands and yanked him down. I tilted my head just as his face reached mine, I’ll be damned if I said I didn’t miss him. His touch was fiercely hot and my lips felt as if they were melting under the heat. But he was tense, and stiff, and very uncomfortable.

  
My eyebrows were pulled together and I made a quiet grunt while tugging at his shirt again, as soon as I did that he relaxed and the softness from before came back to engulf me.

  
I heard a cough behind me and I became conscious of where I was. My cheeks burnt with embarrassment and for a moment I thought that if I continued kissing Kai then they’d all just vanished. But when a throat clearing sounded behind me I rolled my eyes and reluctantly pulled away. I smoothed his shirt out carefully, “It’s, uh, g-good to see you again.” I said and bit my lip while smiling up at him.  
I turned to face the flustered faces of the rest of my group, Jay was blood red and his eyes kept darting around the room while he fiddled with his hands. Lloyd kept casting glances at Brad and I couldn’t help but smirk, he flashed me his worst scowl and continued watching me with narrowed eyes.

  
“So, everybody, this is Kai.” I reached over with my hand and laced our fingers together.

  
“You don’t say.” Lloyd remarked slowly and raised an eyebrow at the movement, I ignored him and looked at Morro. He looked away shyly but smiled and flashed me a thumbs up to which I laughed.

  
“And that’s my uncle, Morro.” I said and gestured to the exhausted doctor in sitting to the side of the small room.  
“Pleased to meet ya, I’m Jay and this is my b– uh, I mean slave, Zane.” He reached out his hand and Morro slowly shook it while eyeing him with a questioning gaze. Lloyd walked up and me with a glum face.

  
“I found out your dad was the one to drive into us, the cops took him away.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.” But I shook my head.

  
“Don’t be, that jerk deserves to rot in prison.” Lloyd smiled and then turned to greet Morro, Brad right behind him.

  
“I didn’t know you cared that much.” A voice all too memorable to be forgotten spoke from next to me.

  
“What, about my dad?” he shook his head, “Oh…” my cheeks darkened and I squeezed his hands a bit more. “Well, yeah. I care about you, no matter how disgustingly cheesy that sounds.” A smile played on my lips when he squeezed right back.

  
Slavery was still as loathsome as it had been twenty years ago, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything to put an end to it. Or, at the very least, get master-slave marriage legal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM SHAKALAKA!!! DONE!!!   
> Enjoyed it? Please do tell, even if you hated it. Wanna hear the alternate ending?  
> Cole makes it to the airport on time and desperately tries to convince Jay to let go of Kai but the slave (aka. Red ninja of fire) believes that it would be better to leave the country and live with Jay’s family. The end. No lava whatsoever.   
> So I had to make a plan and then this happened :D and yes I made Morro Cole’s uncle cause I think they would make awesome family members
> 
> Extra’s; Sensei G forgave his son for theft of an automobile, Nya was found tied up in Lou’s room and Lou now spends the rest of his life in prison. On the dark island. That’s almost like Robin Island, only he ain’t no Nelson Mandela. Jay eventually had to fly to Canada and say hi to his Ma and Pa but Zane was happy to be his company. Lloyd and Brad became prank masters with Cole and Kai being their primary targets. And…  
> The seven team group worked hard to abolish slavery


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUP love muffins, here’s that lovely epilogue that every long story needs. Or just mine as an apology for the terrible and sporadic updates *innocent smile*
> 
> Have fun

“Kai.” I walked around the dark hallways of the house, my steps echoing off the walls and giving me little comfort in the blackness.

  
“Kai.” I called out again and this time I peeked into one of the vacant rooms. Nothing. I continued walking and almost tripped over a box while reaching for the light switch. It didn’t work. I groaned and stretched my hands out in front of myself, mindful of any more obstacles that were in my way.

  
I dropped down into the lowered circular floor of the living room and padded on the couches in search of my phone. I quickly switched on the flashlight and shone it around the room. All I could see was the freshly painted wall of the room and the multiply cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other. But no Kai.

  
Hands snaked around my waist and I yelped when they tightened. Laughter vibrated through my body from my back as I struggled to loosen the grip. My head was pushed aside in response and my neck was then open to the attacker. Soft and disgustingly wet kisses were peppered across the skin, making my cheeks darken with a shade of red.

  
“Fine, fine, I give up.” I slumped against the body and made myself limp. As I expected, he crumbled under my forceful weight and next thing I knew, we were curled up on the floor laughing.

  
My hand glided through the messy brown hair, while my thumb touched the scar over his forehead and eye. His own hand reached up and pulled mine down to fiddle with each finger. He pulled the platinum band off my finger and attempted to read the engraving on the inside, which he miserably failed at.

  
“Mr Smith.” I said with a smile and shone my phone over the shining metal, he smiled right back at me. The words were easy to remember when you looked at them every day.

  
“Mr Smith.” He repeated and slid the ring back onto my finger.

  
I happily snuggled into his chest, soaking up his warmth. “You need to call Jay again.” he looked down at me when I paused, “The lights aren’t working.” He nodded and rubbed circles on my back.

  
“I’ll talk to him tonight.” I groaned, remembering that we were due to meet at Lloyd’s house. He laughed, “Don’t you want to meet Nelson?” I groaned again and rolled us over.

  
I hovered over him and smiled down, he probably couldn’t see it but that didn’t matter, “Sure I wanna see their little Nelson.” I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck, “But I also want to stay here with you…” I murmured while placing soft kisses along his jaw line.

  
I felt his hands move from my back to my hips and I smirked, “Cole.” He warned and I stopped. “When we get back then I promise I’ll stay up with you as long as you want.”

  
“Promise?”

  
He pecked my nose, “I promise.” We both stood up and fixed our wrinkled clothing. “Now let’s go visit Brad and Lloyd.” He smiled at me, his eyes shining with anticipation.

  
Five years after slavery was abolished, three years into marriage, a day after moving and I still can’t stop marvelling at those molten amber irises and that breath-taking lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, Lloyd and Brad adopted lil Nelson. And just in case you wanted to know, Jay and Zane are happily together and they live with Nya :)  
> Bye-bye, it’s so sad to see this end. I feel like I should make a married life one-shot collection… but I’m only 14 with a single parent XD what do I know about married life  
> .  
> Maybe…

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked that, as always if you enjoyed it then please leave a comment. And this story has the reason why I did what I did to Lou in Distraction


End file.
